"Whatever we may do or attempt, despite the embrace and transports of love, the hunger of the lips, we are always alone." (Guy de Maupassant, 1895)
"an urbane and melancholy wisdom"
"the existential solitude of all human beings"
"By the end, she has claimed a solitude that is defiantly feminine"
"embrace of solitude"
"taken out of circulation"
"Experimentation is retarded and repressed ..."
"censured and suppressed by the dominant culture"
"the first aesthetically successful novel written by an American woman"
"a literary beginning as abruptly cut off as its heroine's awakening consciousness"
"gilded dirt"
"Even in its defiant solitude"
[I have only finished three pages of the intro and am savoring it. I am going to hop over and read the book then come back to the beginning, which is what I really enjoy. So far, the story is not gripping, nor is the language. But Elaine has my devotion. I will read more of her if there's more to find for free.]
